Thursday, June 5, 2014

Curtis Granderson and the Not-So-Sweet Sixteen

Curtis Granderson looks spooked at the plate. Could the ghost of Jason Bay be haunting him?

On Wednesday, Curtis Granderson delivered two hits in the Mets' 5-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs, giving him 1,201 for his career. It was not the first time this season Granderson hit the 1,200 mark in a lifetime offensive category. However, the other category wasn't exactly something to be proud of, as on May 6, Granderson struck out for the 1,200th time in his career.

Entering tonight's series finale against the Cubs, Granderson is the owner of 1,231 strikeouts and 1,201 hits. How rare is it for a player to have more strikeouts than hits when he has that many of both? Well, the first player to end his career with more strikeouts than hits when he had at least 1,200 of both didn't play his last game in the majors until 1986. And since this player (a former Met) retired, just 16 other players - including Granderson - have joined him.

Here are a list of those players, which include Curtis Granderson and the other not-so-sweet sixteen. This list includes a Hall of Famer, a few All-Stars and probably more current and former Mets than you would like.

Player

Final Year

Career Strikeouts

Career Hits

Career HR

Career RBI

Dave Kingman

1986

1,816

1,575

442

1,210

Reggie Jackson

1987

2,597

2,584

563

1,702

Jesse Barfield

1992

1,234

1,219

241

716

Cecil Fielder

1998

1,316

1,313

319

1,008

Jay Buhner

2001

1,406

1,273

310

965

Jose Canseco

2001

1,942

1,877

462

1,407

Dean Palmer

2003

1,332

1,229

275

849

Greg Vaughn

2003

1,513

1,475

355

1,072

Richie Sexson

2008

1,313

1,286

306

943

Troy Glaus

2010

1,377

1,375

320

950

Pat Burrell

2011

1,564

1,393

292

976

Mike Cameron

2011

1,901

1,700

278

968

Jim Thome

2012

2,548

2,328

612

1,699

Jason Bay

2013

1,216

1,200

222

754

Adam Dunn

Still Active

2,280

1,574

449

1,128

Ryan Howard

Still Active

1,474

1,226

322

1,003

Curtis Granderson

Still Active

1,231

1,201

223

633

Notice that just about everyone on the list was a middle-of-the-order power hitter. But Granderson hit at the top of the order for much of his career and has surpassed 25 homers in a season just three times, hence his low RBI total.

Also notice that four of the 17 players (Kingman, Cameron, Bay, Granderson) called Shea Stadium and Citi Field home for parts of their careers. It could have been seven out of 20, had Darryl Strawberry (1,352 strikeouts, 1,401 hits), Jeromy Burnitz (1,376 strikeouts, 1,447 hits) and Jose Valentin (1,294 strikeouts, 1,348 hits) struck out just a little more in their respective careers. But just like the hitters who actually did make the list, Strawberry, Burnitz and Valentin were cleanup-type power hitters (Valentin had five straight years of 25+ homers from 2000 to 2004), something Granderson is not.

If Curtis Granderson were a prototypical power hitter, perhaps his high strikeout rate would be more acceptable. Likewise, if Granderson had more seasons of elite home run totals, his low hit count could be forgiven. But Granderson is not Dave Kingman, Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco or Jim Thome. He's not even Jesse Barfield or Pat Burrell, for that matter. The closest player he resembles on the list above is - here's that name again - Jason Bay.

Although he tried his best to fulfill the lofty expectations that go with a lucrative four-year contract, Jason Bay fizzled quickly as a Met. During his time in New York, Bay had more strikeouts (258) than hits (231), despite having fewer strikeouts (896) than hits (927) before coming to the Big Apple. He also hit 26 or more homers in five of the six seasons before his first year in New York. Then he hit a grand total of 26 homers in three years as a Met. Because of his low home run totals and high strikeout rate, Bay found himself in the dreaded New York doghouse - the same place Granderson appears to be heading.

Curtis Granderson is a nice guy. But being nice doesn't get you anything in New York if you're paid to hit home runs, then proceed to strike out ten times for every long ball you hit. (Granderson has hit six home runs in 2014, while striking out 64 times.) We saw it before with Jason Bay. We don't need to see it again with Curtis Granderson.

There are 151 players in major league history who collected at least 1,200 hits and 1,200 strikeouts. Of those players, only 17 had more strikeouts than hits. Curtis Granderson is one of those players. And if he doesn't want to go down the road taken by Jason Bay before him, he'll need to get himself off this list pronto.

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